On September 22, Tunisian President Kais Saied extended the emergency measures introduced in July that saw parliament suspended and the prime minister fired, granting the president executive authority. The move presents a worrying possibility of growing repression both in Tunisia and across the...
Do you know where you were on August 14, 2001? Perhaps not, since it isn't a defining day in world history in quite the same way as September 11, 2001, or 9/11, as it’s become known. Yet in the Turkish political landscape, August 14, 2001, can now be seen as something of a watershed...
The African continent is home to 54 countries, more than 1.2 billion people and around 2,000 languages. Its challenges and success stories are as diverse as the breadth of its landmass. In terms of GDP growth, Africa is the world’s second fastest-developing region. A 2018 report by the Overseas...
Today’s protesters have a leg up on their counterparts from the Arab Spring of 2011. Momentous developments across North and East Africa suggest the long-drawn-out process of political transition in the region — as well as the Middle East — is still in its infancy. So too does popular...
The crisis in the Middle East offers the West a historic opportunity in the larger struggle with China and Russia for a future international order. If the notion that history repeats itself is accurate, it is nowhere truer than in the Middle East. This is a place where the international...
Friedman is the archetypical trend spotter. If trends didn’t exist — and, happily for him, they do — he would have to invent them. For decades, Thomas Friedman has been selling himself as America’s top producer of labels for global trends that nobody else has noticed. Just last week, he...
In this edition of The Interview, Fair Observer talks to Alia Soliman, the communications manager of HarassMap, an anti-sexual harassment organization in Egypt. When events of May 25, 2005—a day when female protesters against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak were sexually assaulted as the...
Women have served as indispensable agents of change during and after the Arab Spring and have made significant gains but have a long road ahead. It was not uncommon to see news of the Arab Spring accompanied by photos of women on the frontline. Women participated, organized and even led many of...
The US presidential campaign debate on Middle East policy has focused disproportionately on the response to the Islamic State. This series instead focuses on five alternative Middle East policy challenges facing the next president. In this final part, Ryan J. Suto discusses addressing the human...
In Egypt, economic hardship and repression are reaching a point where the people are no longer willing the stay silent. Faced with a drop in popularity, intermittent protests against rising prices and calls for a mass anti-government demonstration, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is...
The legacy of the Arab Uprisings is one that has encouraged a willingness to pose questions, put issues on the table and challenge established norms. Pressured by human rights and trade union activists leveraging Qatar’s exposure as a World Cup host, and influenced by subtle changes sparked by...
Western media perpetuates a stereotype of veiled women largely based on sexist views, not on facts. One of the striking images of the 2016 Rio Olympics was that of a beach volleyball game, with bikini-clad German player Kira Walkenhorst on one side of the net and Egyptian player Doaa Elghobashy...
The US presidential campaign debate on Middle East policy has focused disproportionately on the response to the Islamic State. This series instead focuses on five alternative Middle East policy challenges facing the next president. In this second part, Ryan J. Suto discusses the economic and...
Political infighting and violence have plagued Yemen since the Arab Spring began in December 2010. The hopes and aspirations of Yemen’s youth have dissipated into a near permanent state of war. Five years on from the electrifying momentum toward change sweeping through the Arab world’s...
